Sgi Onyx 3000 Series Graphics Systems To Power U.S. Air Force F-22 Pilottraining Devices - Company Business and Marketing

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Dec 11, 2000

Link Simulation & Training, a division of L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) in Arlington, Texas, has purchased two SGI Onyx 3000 series high-performance graphics systems to power the U.S. Air Force's F-22 pilot training devices.

Under an initial engineering, manufacturing and development contract, Link Simulation & Training is building a Full Mission Trainer and Weapons Tactics Trainer that will help hone the skills of F-22 fighter pilots. The stealthy, next generation F-22 air superiority fighter aircraft will fly complex, integrated missions ranging from single ship operation to large force coalition strike actions.

A multiprocessor, multigraphics pipeline SGI Onyx 3800 system will drive the F-22 Full Mission Trainer, providing comprehensive systems capabilities that, combined with inclusive external environments, will challenge a pilot's proficiency throughout the entire spectrum of the aircraft's combat employment. A fully populated cockpit on a fixed base will be integrated with a high-resolution image-generation system coupled with Link Simulation & Training's SimuSphere wide field-of-view display system.

The F-22 Weapons Tactics Trainer, an intermediate level training device, will be powered by a multi-processor, single graphics pipe SGI Onyx 3400 system that will support a high fidelity tactical environment. The trainer will provide pilots with simulated controls and displays representing the main F-22 aircraft instrument panel. In addition to enabling pilots to practice individual and team weapon systems employment, the weapons tactics trainer can be used as an instructional system or mission-generation system.

"Only the SGI Onyx 3000 series of high-performance graphics systems has the power and real-time visualization capability to concurrently process imagery, video, 3D terrain and geospatial data," said Anthony Robbins, president, SGI Federal.

Designed to simultaneously process 3D graphics, 2D imagery and video data, the SGI Onyx 3000 series scales from single-user systems to those that combine the ultimate in supercomputing and visualization technologies.

The SGI Onyx 3000 series is the third-generation implementation of the revolutionary SGI NUMA architecture. This tightly coupled architecture with inherent scaling of system and graphics bandwidth is central to the series' breakthrough visual performance.

The new SGI NUMA architecture, featuring NUMAflex technology, increases memory bandwidth and reduces memory latency. In addition, the world-leading InfiniteReality3 graphics subsystem is the high-performance graphics pipeline for the SGI Onyx 3000 series. Thanks to the enormous bandwidth unique to SGI NUMA, customers can use multiple InfiniteReality3 subsystems simultaneously, focusing incredible power on solving a single visual problem.

Link Simulation & Training is a leading supplier of simulators, training services and effective on-demand instruction for military forces, governmental agencies, educational institutions and private business. The company's technologies and capabilities include simulator production and modification; distance learning and Web-based training; training system delivery and management; simulation and training research; and aircraft maintenance trainer design.n